Chuck Grassley: “I said it costs money to shut the government down; it costs money to open the government up. The government is supposed…”

“I said it costs money to shut the government down; it costs money to open the government up. The government is supposed to be a service to the American people, protect the American people, and you can't do either if the government is not functioning. You heard the Chaplain speaking about prayer and the government shutdown. Prayer is in order for almost anything, but if common sense would prevail here in the U.S. Senate, 100 Senators would take care of this issue with or without prayer. On the other hand, if people want to pray for the opening of government and the serving of people, that is perfectly appropriate, and, hopefully, it works. But all 100 of us Senators ought to be ashamed that the government is in shutdown. It affects the United States. Each of our staffs will not be paid during this period of time, and I will bet each Senator will expect their staffs to be on duty since the Senate is going to be in session. We should think about the people we are hurting.”